Akatsuki no Yona: The Dragon Slayers
by Kylandor
Summary: Yona witnesses her father murdered by her childhood friend Su'Won. Heartbroken and distressed she is saved by Hak, another childhood friend who promised her father he would protect her. Yona must seek the four dragon warriors in order to survive but when a foreign power threatens Kouka from across the ocean, a conspiracy will unfold across not only space but also time.
1. Chapter 1

**Foreword:**

 **The following story will branch between two points of view and will occasionally present hopeless situations to the usual protagonists.**

 **It is also slightly AU (Alternate Universe) though mostly Yona's point of view will follow the anime sequence of events.**

 **The story will contain occasional bouts of foul language and may take a morbid direction at times.**

 **There will not be as many comedic moments as Yona of the Dawn normally has, this is because it is extremely difficult for me to write comedy and I usually focus on serious stories anyway.**

 **Aside from that, I have nothing more to add, enjoy the story.**

* * *

Chapter 1 : Escape/Disembark

"Survival is paramount."

* * *

POV - Yona, Princess of Kouka Kingdom l Location: Crimson Dragon Castle

* * *

Fear, confusion and anger filled Yona's heart as her father wasn't responding, her childhood friend Su'Won had killed him seemingly in cold blood. She couldn't do much but shake and tremble as she asked "Why?".

Su'Won's face remained as pale and cold as it was when she entered the room. He spoke, saying "Because he killed my father."

Things blurred for Yona after that, she could hear what he was saying, about Su'Won's father and that his death wasn't an accident. Yona didn't believe him, shouting that it was a lie then asked if everything Su'Won had done was a lie.

Su'Won didn't reply as his co-conspirators entered the room, one of them with long black hair in a ponytail who was seemingly Su'Won's advisor suggested that he kill Yona to prevent the truth from coming out.

Yona looked back at Su'Won, softly saying "No, you wouldn't... You wouldn't!" and she could only feel an urge to run, an urge she acted on.

Moments later in the moonlit Crimson Dragon Palace's courtyard several guards working with Su'Won intercepted Yona and restrained her, one held a sword to her fearful face as he said "This is for the good of Kouka Kingdom." and rose the blade, readying to strike.

As if a flash of lightning, the man along with other nearby guards were stuck dead by a spear, wielded by Son Hak, General of the Wind Clan and Yona's childhood friend along with Su'Won.

Su'Won walked out with his advisor before to witness the execution only to see Hak intervene. Hak stared directly at his once-childhood friend and said "Su'Won, what exactly are you doing. I knew something was off with the guards not being at their posts but this is something I never expected, from you no less."

Su'Won calmly replied "I'm usurping the throne, that's what. I killed King II and as you just saw, I was about to have Yona killed to silence the truth."

Hak couldn't believe his ears, he immediately attacked the other guards around Yona, ending them each with a single strike from his Hsu Quandao spear, again as if striking with lightning speed. He then shouted for Yona to run though she was too shocked by the events to even breath properly, shallow breaths were what came from her mouth instead of words or actions. Hak charged at Su'Won who quickly drew a short short and deflected one of the blows Hak sent at him, the two dueled at a rapid pace barely traceable by the human eye, neither making a hit until Hak managed to execute an upper slash with the spear, injuring Su'Won's right shoulder just as one of the guards shouted "Stop now!".

Hak turned his head clockwise, one of the guards at Su'Won's side snuck past him during his duel and now held Yona hostage, a short sword below her jaw.

He relaxed and lowered his spear, silently cursing his situation when an arrow missed though distracted the guard holding Yona hostage, as if he were lightning Hak quickly slammed his spear through the head of the guard, freeing Yona and he then grabbed her and ran carrying the princess, hopefully to safety.

* * *

POV Shift - Ray Zenji, Grand General of the Zenji Imperium. l Location: Kylandor City, Feyvernis Continent, 2,106 miles north of Kouka Kingdom across the western ocean.

* * *

Short Black Hair, dark brown eyes, a light latin skin tone and a laid back expression was the face of this seemingly 17 year old man.

On a large round table was a map of the world, indeed the entire planet with six distinguishable continents were made out. The territory of the Zenji Imperium was painted a stark green with it's border outlined in red. Feyvernis was their home continent and had been Imperial territory for over 100 years. Following the successful launch of an orbital vessel named "Heaven's Eye" which was designed by Ray himself had given them a view of the planet 30 years ago. Ray appeared 17 but he did not age beyond that, neither externally nor internally.

He pointed to a modest peninsula in one of the territories that was mostly unexplored (They had a map of the globe though lacked insight, from space all they could do is draw a map of the planet's continents, they lacked high resolution imaging systems was the thought going on in Ray's head.)

Indeed Ray was not of this world or time, circumstances he chooses to remember only when necessary trapped him not only 600 years in the past but also 41 lightyears away from home. Thankfully he could teach and instruct the people here and more or less the Zenji Imperium, socially at least, was a better place than any country on Earth.

Their Emperor Khalas, the last surviving Dark Lord, a humanoid with incredible knowledge and psionic power had tasked Ray with leading an expedition to claim a new continent and gave him the liberty of choosing which to seize. Currently the Empire spanned two continents, both were only fully subjugated when the Empire's most dangerous weapon was deployed.

That aside Ray had been arguing with his advisors and fellow generals over which continent to seize. Perhaps Lamsara? The large mountain ranges coupled with a modest desert suggested it was rich in minerals, rare materials and oil.

Lamsara was explored though by peaceful expeditions and it's society had access to breach loading firearms and suitably strong nations on the coastlines though they still used wooden sail vessels and steam power had eluded them.

A decision was made and the continent was decided, they would attack Erchan, it's only known nations, Khai and Kouka were in the middle ages and their societies were feudal compared to the Imperium's Military-Industrial Complex.

Ray spoke, saying "Erchan, we land at Erchan. The nations we do know of there are feudal and medieval at best and they are not expecting a naval invasion. We'll make preparations to attack the capital of the Khai Empire directly and simultaneously we will hit Kouka's port town Awa. It will be a long journey yes but we'll be sure to take sufficient provisions. No chances however, we'll deploy heavy ironclads and submersibles along with Battleline Airships. Rumors encountered by our last agent in that area suggested the possibility of dragons so make sure we bring three Spears with us. We'll mobilize a force of 100,000 Janissaires and a tactical force of 300 Shinobi no Mono to deal with any experienced warriors. Feudal States tend to have exemplary individuals talented with melee weapons or throwing daggers. We will only use the Spears if absolutely necessary. I will personally lead the initial attacks, afterwards we will solidify our beachheads and along with the Shinobi we will conduct reconnaissance of the Khai Empire and Kouka Kingdom. General Hassid will take charge of the invasion of Khai, most of their empire is rock and sand and Hassid is from the Great Desert, he knows how to manage logistics in inhospitable territories. General Shu from the Cynthurius Continent will assist with the invasion of Kouka, the terrain there is not unlike his homeland's. I will be conducting field reconnaissance of my own as well so General Aleksander from Plasai will be my second in command, when I am not in direct communication or behind enemy lines you will take orders from him. Like the Cynthurius the locals are oriental so expect a fierce fighting determination and people that do not fear death. Dismissed!"

The men around the table nodded, gave salutes and departed the room.

Ray took a stroll in the capital, the west and east were mountains, inside those mountains the city continued, sturdy support structures capable of withstanding earthquakes existed and life was not harsh, the Capital was teaming with life and had a blooming economy. The Zenji Imperium's primary currency, Denarii was the most valuable and existed in two forms. Gold Coins pressed with the coat of arms as tails and Khalas' likeness as heads, the coins varied in size and worth from 100 Denarii, 200 and 500. Before the printing press there were individual worth of Denarii but those are now valued by paper currency in the forms of 1s, 5s, 10s, 20s and 100s. Not unlike his homeland's dollar though unlike the dollar, there were no cent increments. Values less than one denarii were usually currencies from occupied provinces. The Imperium maintained both a multi-cultural society and a flexible stock market that ensured economic stability. The standard was a double standard, both Gold and Silver held up the weight of the economy.

Reaching his residence he sat on a chair next to a window, looking outward onto the sea and held his hand up to the sun, it turned from it's latin shade to a shadow, darker than ink as it deformed into a whip or tentacle like object before reshaping back into a human hand with the normal tone. Ray sighed and wondered if he could still be considered human after what this empire's successor did to him.

* * *

POV Shift - Son Hak l Location: Wind Clan's Capital Fuuga.

* * *

Yona was asleep in a room provided by the Wind Clan. To keep a low profile Hak had told her to go by the name Lina, her cover was a Lady-in-waiting who was no longer at the palace.

Hak sighed as he looked outward, since coming here the Fire Clan had dammed up the river and was possibly harassing merchants to cut off the water supply in order to pressure the Wind Clan into accepting Su'Won's appointment as king.

Time passed and Mun'Dok, the previous general of the wind clan, returned and was briefed on the state of affairs.

"That's the gist of it, they won't stop harassing us until you accept the appointment of Su'Won." said Hak.

Mun'Dok sighed and said "You needn't worry, we'll stand by you and the princess, I won't recognize Su'Won." Hak replied "No, if it becomes apparent that the wind clan will rebel even in the least the Fire Clan might treat it as treason and strike us down. As much as it stings, we simply lack the numbers to stand against them, yet alone the rest of Kouka. This is my last order as General of the Wind Clan, I return the name Son and place of general to you. Recognize Su'Won's ascension to king, do what it takes to keep the Wind Clan safe."

Mun'Dok didn't reply at first, the two then discussed from where Hak would go next. Hak wanted to leave Yona in the wind clan as 'Lina' so she could live a normal and peaceful life but he quickly realized that the fire clan and more-so Su'Won would eventually find her if she remains in one place too long. Mun'Dok suggested they head to the cliffs to seek out the Oracle.

After a night's rest and a morning's breakfast Hak and Yona prepared to set out, Yona was no longer emotionally distressed so as to be unable to move or eat on her own. She was now determined to survive, partly to deny Su'Won a complete victory and mostly simply because she did not want to die.

On the path to the mountains they came across a traveler, he took notice of Yona but not because of her hair, Hak tensed up along with Yona as the traveler spoke, saying "Excuse me, I don't mean to trouble you but I think I'm lost. Could you give me directions to Fuuga?" Hak simply pointed towards the town's direction and the traveler nodded and thanked him. Once he was out of sight he sighed in relief that he didn't recognize himself or Yona.

* * *

The Traveler once out of sight from those two made a light whistle which seemed to summon a pigeon to him. He had prepared a note since encountering Yona and placed it on the ankle and said "To Awa" and nudged it in the direction of the port town which caused the pigeon to fly in that direction.

The man thought to himself "So the rumors are true, dragons are in this continent, hiding as humans. That girl, it may not be apparent yet to normal people but they should not underestimate us Shinobi. Our skills in the arts allow us to see through such guises though it seemed to me that the girl isn't a dragon directly but rather the blood thinned enough to make her mostly human at this point. She probably doesn't know it herself. Not that I care, most of us won't rest until all dragons are either dead or fleeing back to the heavens from where they came."

* * *

To be continued...

* * *

 **Afterword: The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi will be involved but not early on.**

'till next time - Kylandor


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 : Prophecy/The Ironclads.

"Time is a forked river, intersecting at various points across it's flow, changing one does not change the other but a change to either affects the convergence."

* * *

POV - Yona l Location: Unclear

* * *

Pain, this is what Yona felt for a moment before fully waking, her memories blurred until it cleared, Soldiers led by Kan Tae-Jun had cornered Hak and injured him with a poisoned arrow, Yona managed to stop a second arrow from killing him but was forced to use Tae-Jun's blade to slice her hair when he grabbed her by the end of her long hair. Things happened quickly after that, she rushed towards Hak swinging the blade with poor ability though it was enough to get close until the ledge collapsed, the last blurry memory was Hak repositioning himself mid-fall to take the brunt of it.

Yona looked around with a slight daze, her surroundings was that of a small cabin, her head was bandaged and when she looked to her side she noticed Hak who seemed to have taken the worst of the fall as he was covered in bandages as opposed to Yona's lone head bandage. A young boy walked in the cabin and said "Oh, you're awake."

* * *

POV Shift - Ray Zenji l Location: Open Sea, 1,008 miles from Awa.

* * *

Ray looked at the new addition to his forces that Khalas had insisted he bring. Something about the Dark Lord suggested that perhaps Erchan was not so unexplored as the Zenji Emperor would have his subjects believe.

The vehicle reminded him of some kind of hybrid design between an M3 Lee and a Panzer III but regardless it was a Tank though it's function was different. Instead of solely an oil driven motor it contained two engines, a primary steam engine which made the rear of the vehicle even more vulnerable than normal and the oil engine was redundant though more powerful. Petroleum's value was known and exploited by the Imperium though there was not an abundance of the resource and such the primary energy resource powering the Zenji Imperium was steam. It was a practical steampunk civilization with a mixed culture varying from if he had to compare to his home, a combination of European and Japanese cultural aspects as well as a desert folklore past which could be Persian or Egyptian in similarity.

Walking out onto the deck to observe the ocean, Ray found himself deep in thought about his memories.

* * *

Flashback - Ray Zenji l Location: Kobe, Japan, 2003 AD.

* * *

"Why am I here?" thought the young 10 year old Ray Zenji.

His surroundings were a Japanese house that didn't seem asian in design except for the way the floors were, making it necessary to take off his shoes when inside. Two Middle aged men, one Japanese and one Latino were discussing something.

It had been strange that his parents brought him here, there was never an interest in these things before and whenever Ray looked into the eyes of his parents he could swear something had possessed their eyes.

"It's your move." said a young girl, Japanese. Her long brown hair, golden eyes and orange dress were her features. She and Ray were playing a game of Shogi (A kind of Japanese Chess) following her teaching Ray how to play. Ray pondered and made his move, not really paying attention to the game much anymore, it was extremely out of character that he would be involved in talks regarding an arranged marriage, his would-be fiancee was also similarly shocked at the happenings, having explained that her parents also were acting unusual, not themselves and when Ray brought up the fact about the eyes, the girl, Suzumiya Haruhi, also mentioned a similar sight in her parent's eyes.

Ray abandoned the idea of playing the game seriously and made a move he technically couldn't, Haruhi corrected him on the rules and he sighed, saying "No offense but I'm not really interested in this game. I mean I do like strategy games but I just can't focus with what's going on. I feel like if I make a wrong move or say the wrong thing I'll end up possessed by something."

Haruhi replied "I don't feel the same way. I just feel annoyed. Last week my dad took me to a baseball game, the sheer number of people there made me realize my life really isn't that special. I admit that my parents have been acting strangely for the past three days, they're not the type to hide something this important from me. But I can't help but think they're just trying to make me feel special."

Ray shook his head and said "No, I doubt it. You said three days? That's the exact time of when my parents started acting strangely, then suddenly they know Japanese when they didn't before and some un-named benefactor pays for this trip. I live in the United States and my family has had no contact with Japan, there was my great-grandfather on my mother's side but he wasn't in Kobe as far as I know. Our families have no prior contact with eachother in all of recorded history. A sudden trip across the pacific ocean with only three days of notice and planning just doesn't happen."

Haruhi listened with interest when her father came up and made an odd request for her to show Ray her room.

Haruhi merely complied and when the two were in her room her face ceased to have it's usual emotions, Ray could sense something was amiss when she walked as if without a soul to open the door to a small balcony alongside her room as an adult in military gear seemed to fade in from thin air as Haruhi fell unconcious.

A sudden urge to sleep overcame Ray, one he couldn't fight.

* * *

He woke, strapped to a table with several IVs hooked into his veins, he couldn't move, probably because of some kind of sedative when a black fluid began to move through the IVs, when they entered his veins he felt as if someone was pouring hot oil through them and then the worst of sensations occured.

As if he was being pumped with Battery Acid, he felt his insides melt though his skin didn't break or change, the pain became excruciating, beyond description and the worst part was somehow he could not pass out, nothing beat within his chest, he then lost his sight for a moment, only darkness could be seen when suddenly his insides reformed and sight returned, a process that took five minutes only for it to repeat again, and again, and again until psychologically Ray had lost the will to do anything.

Was it hours? Days? Weeks? He couldn't remember even in hindsight but he knew that suddenly after that hell, he was overcome with awareness though he felt different, he was no longer strapped into anything but as he soon realized to his horror upon noticing a mirror that he was inside some kind of tank, filled with him. He was a shadow, without shape or form, like oil filled in a tank he could not control himself, he soon managed to gain control of his senses and slowly retook human form, once he finalized his 10 year old body again his mind shifted, knowledge overcame him, mental ability soon after. He was chronologically ten years old but he suddenly understood things at a deeper level, becoming an adult. He reshaped his form to that of a 22 year old man and broke out, sharpening his left arm into a shadow whip and breaking free of his containment, an alarm went off and as he knocked a guard unconscious and put on his uniform he looked out the window with shock and horror.

There was a blue sphere outside the window, making the shape of the area around the Japanese Islands. He was in orbit of Earth.

More soldiers rushed in and opened fire with automatic firearms, the bullets simply whizzed through Ray, he bled a black fluid which simply returned to his body, he didn't even feel pain, more like a sudden rush and shifting feeling.

A strange sensation overcame him, one of outright bloodlust as he deformed form his human body into a pure expanding and limitless shadow, tearing through the ship's corridor causing even the experienced soldiers in the vessel to run and scream in terror, one thing, one thought existed in Ray's mind.

"Escape."

As he encompassed the guards he absorbed them, melting their bodies and equipment and converting it into pure energy, he also absorbed their memories and oddly he was not overburdened by the new memories flowing into his mind. Eventually he reached the bridge and reformed into a human shaped shadow but still without discernible features, more like a shadow person without eyes. His right arm formed into a inverted bladed claw and he hacked through the ship's captain with a single diagonal slash, the captain was cut in half and the injury had the shadow material Ray was now comprised of, it expanded, converting the captain's corpse into more of itself until only the shadow remained and merged with the rest of Ray, giving him the captain's memories.

With the entire crew absorbed he concentrated and reformed his human self, it was even restructured again to be human as he sighed and pieced together what had happened.

A cloud of nanomachines was released in two areas, around Haruhi's home and his own. With covert agents belonging to a interstellar civilization called the Imperial Kylandarian Republic they funneled funds and made other necessary arrangements to transport Ray to an area more favorable to an abduction, using the deception to limit resistance as they then gassed the house with a sedative and likely any agents still on the ground were returning his family to their home, the sedative also had an amnesia inducing effect which would wipe clean the past three days.

A bit of pity was directed towards Haruhi as he took command of the ship's systems using the access codes of the ship's crew though a failsafe activated, one the crew didn't know about intentionally for this situation. He lacked their biometric data which caused the ship to execute an FTL jump towards the homeworld of the IKR. Angry that he was being played, some odd energy built up in him and as the ship exited FTL and was on a crash course for the Feyvernis' coastline, Ray somehow opened a rift through time, plunging himself through space and time.

He awoke without air, the ship had not followed him through though oddly enough he was not suffocating. He was in shadowed form and was descending from orbit, slamming into the planet with the force of a 34 Kiloton nuclear bomb, thankfully enough he hit an uninhabited area.

* * *

Flashback End.

* * *

Looking onto the ocean again Ray sighed, he later had found a cotton field and wove himself new attire using his abilities and upon learning how to properly maintain his human form, began to explore and integrate with this world. He was now 132 years old and still the ability to travel through time eluded him, perhaps he needed more energy and he was not going to absorb lives to do such an act. He would return to his time by waiting, he would wait some 500 years, perhaps even alter the course of history by becoming a Temporal Enigma.

He refocused himself and proceeded back to the bridge of the ship, he had to make sure the fleet remained on course.

* * *

POV Shift - Yona

* * *

Their group had left the forest proceeding to a mountainous region.

Beforehand, Yun had explained that he found them and treated their injuries and following an encounter with Ik'Soo, the Oracle, Yona had become slightly confused concerning the prophecy he mentioned.

Hak interrupted her thoughts, saying "Still dwelling on the Oracle's words Princess?"

Yona nodded and said "I kind of understand the tale of the four dragons because I've heard it before. It's that other prophecy that worries me."

Ik'Soo seemingly only intended to mention something about the four dragons but quickly after that he changed, as if possessed, his eyes turned crimson as he spoke with a different, more firm and rough voice, Yona recalled the words he said.

"The Crimson Dragon, once united with the Four Dragon Warriors will encounter a shadow leading an invincible army. The Crimson Dragon will then either make a difficult alliance with the shadow or perish along with all of Kouka in an all-consuming fire fit to incinerate the grandest of cities in an instant. If an alliance occurs, the awakened ones will be revealed to the Crimson Dragon and the Shadow then after many centuries the Shadow shall seek to protect them from the machinations of the old ones."

Hak sighed as he noticed Yona again in deep thought, undoubtedly about the prophecy and said "Instead of dwelling on the Oracles words we should focus on where we're going."

Yona felt those words as much as hearing them when she tripped over a stone that would have been large enough to notice had she been paying attention to her footing instead of pondering the prophecy in deep thought. Getting up quickly after that Yona sighed and said "You could have told me I was going to trip over something."

Hak didn't reply, seemingly amused at the princess' clumsiness whilst Yun was ahead of them, not having noticed Yona's head-in-the-clouds moment.

* * *

POV Shift - Ray Zenji l A month later.

* * *

Ray sighed as he looked across the horizon with the pair of binoculars that belonged to the ship's captain, confirming why he was woken up early.

Several wooden vessels bearing Khai Empire markings were on sail for neutral waters between Kouka and Khai's coastal regions. Ray had received messages via courier pigeons beforehand both confirming reports of Dragon presence in Kouka and that there were rumors of human trafficking being conducted by the governor of Awa.

Slavery sickened him, it was the main reason he led the advance against the Plasai raiders prior to Feyvernis being unified under Zenji rule as well as the southern pirates.

Reports also mentioned of a group of pirates making gains against Awa's Governor, Yang Kum-Ji.

Ray turned to the captain and said "Order the fleet to intercept the Khai fleet now before they reach the naval border, I don't care if both Kouka and Khai are our enemies, we'll nip slavery in the bud where-ever it rears it's ugly head."

The captain nodded with a smile and began shouting orders, he too despised slavery.

The battleline of the advance fleet consisted of six Steamrunner class frigates mounted with two single barrel 8 inch turrets, one bow and one aft. Supporting them were two Imperial class Destroyers, armed with three dual 8 inch guns, two bow, one aft. Three Firestorm Submersibles were sent ahead, though lacking any weapons usable underwater once surfaces crew rushed to load and man a Congreve Rocket emplacement on the bow specifically designed to bombard wooden homes and ships with incendiary rockets.

The Khai ships numbered 30 small ships and 8 large ships comparable to Brigs and Galleons, the brigs only had Ballistas, large crossbows bigger than a horse and the local crew. The Galleons seemed to have 8 pounder old cannons which fired simple round shot. Neither stood a chance for the iron plated hulls of frigates and destroyers though the submersibles were at risk to the cannons and the ballistas whilst useless against the hulls would be able to maim and kill crew members.

* * *

POV - Submarine Advance Fleet

* * *

To the surprise of the men aboard the Khai vessels, iron ships rose from the waters at first with a tower rising from the water as if the fin of a shark. Soon the ships were entirely surfaced and men rushed onto the deck and opened watertight cases built into the hull and rigged them onto a metal rail which once made apparent, looked as if they were going to launch fireworks.

Indeed fireworks occured as rockets began to speed from the three ships, piercing through the sails with their burning afts igniting them, once the rockets hit the hard wood of the ships though they exploded, spreading a flame-inducing liquid across the area, setting both ship and crew ablaze. The fleet didn't notice the gravity of the situation until three of their ships were rendered floating bonfires. They repositioned and arrows flew against the submersibles, not even denting their hull though some of the crew were killed or badly cut by the barrage as another wave of rockets launched against another three helpless brigs, on the horizon there were larger vessels of metal approaching, flashes occured and after a few seconds a distant thundering sound made itself known, followed by explosions in the water and on the hulls of the ship.

Zenji Vessels were designed to fight inferior ships, using a variant of napalm in their arrows and some shells whilst also having simple armor piercing cells for iron-laden sail ships or the occasional ironclad they did come across. But the shells used here were explosive shells, a small incendiary charge existed at the edge of a weak and thin copper tip which in turn ignited the shrapnel filled explosive charge inside the shell, causing both explosion and fragmentation.

* * *

POV Shift - Ray Zenji

* * *

Ray watched through the binoculars as the Khai fleet sunk with no losses to his fleet's vessels though he could tell there were losses to personnel.

He lowered the binoculars and sighed, they were still far from the port of Awa but they had approached the split point, Ray made the signal for the fleet to break in half, the other half turned towards the Khai Empire whilst Ray's fleet maintained direct course for Awa.

A pigeon reached him and he took from it's leg the message it held.

Ray read it aloud as the Captain had approached him asking about the message.

"Grand General, I bear news on Kouka's exiled princess. You told me to tail her without arousing suspicion, so far I have managed to remain hidden however I believe that can no longer come to pass as she has recruited an individual with incredible senses, he has nearly spotted me six times already and I do not wish to engage him in battle, based on my information he wears a mask to avoid using his power which seemingly can kill with eye-contact. Princess Yona as I explained bears the aura of a Crimson Dragon, more than once I have observed killing intent from the otherwise innocent girl. Innocent she is no longer however as she has killed the governor of Awa, Yang Kum-Ji with a bow and arrow. I do not know how this is affecting her however I do know that she had a close encounter with the one who wants her dead, King Su'Won. Oddly enough he did not attempt to kill her. Yang Kum-Ji was the only casualty of a naval battle between a single pirate group and hired mercenaries, the pirates used non-lethal methods despite being fully capable of killing their enemies without difficulty. The latest information on her traveling companions is as follows: Hak of the Wind Clan, previously known as Son Hak though he returned the name Son to his adoptive father Son Mundok. He wields a large spear and can strike with the speed and grace a Shinobi no Mono applies to his Katana. It has earned him the nickname Lightning Beast. Kija, the inheritor of the blood of a white dragon. His right arm is not human but rather similar to what we know as a Raptor Dragon but with an odd and deadly exception, it can grow in size and carry incredible weight. He should not be underestimated as with this arm he is capable of killing dozens of armed individuals without an external weapon such as a sword or spear. His martial prowess is also to be commended. He has silver hair like the elven though his ears are human. Sinn'Ah, the one with incredible sight as I mentioned before and the inheritor of the Blue Dragon's power. He is adept with a blade similar to a Katana but with an iron ring at the end of the grip. His skills with a blade may rival your own and at the least they rival a Tier III Shinobi. Yun, he has no combat skills though is an intellectual savant, perhaps if put into an official capacity he would advance their society 200 years in only 10 years time. He is extremely skilled with first aid and seems to be very capable with using various herbs and powders to make medicines on par with our own. He is also feminine in appearance despite being male though this is only truly apparent if he cross-dresses, he has done this once and I swear, he must be related to the time traveler you encountered, the description you gave would suggest he is related to her. As of recently the pirates have disbanded as their main goal was successful, they rescued several captive women from potential slavery. One of their numbers, Jae'Ha has joined her group. He apparently is the current Green Dragon and like Gija possesses traits found among Raptor breed. His right leg is capable of incredible leaps and is as strong as Gija's right arm. His leg however so far does not show any signs of growth capabilities though he is skilled with throwing knives, his skill surpasses any Shinobi no mono I have witnessed and he is adept with Martial Arts, particularly he uses multiple kicks in his attacks. As for the full report on Yona herself she is inept with most combat abilities, I would rate her archery as average though endurance seems to be a strong trait of hers as some sessions she discharges up to 200 arrows within a span of two to three hours. She has no known close combat abilities and though she has the feel of the Crimson Dragon legend, I see no actual abilities or dragon traits so far, it is possible the blood has thinned too much to give her direct capabilities. I can no longer maintain my cover as the blue dragon will surely detect me. As such I will proceed with my secondary objective of obtaining information on King Su'Won's activities, strengths and weaknesses."

A large letter indeed despite being small enough to fit upon a pigeons leg, this was due in part to the psionic abilities of the people here, with it they could encode information that could be read only by psionic senses.

Ray placed the letter in his uniform's pocket and dismissed the captain, saying "You have the con, I'll be in my quarters, I need to think about this information, we should be at Awa in three days, if these individuals try to oppose us, only Psionically gifted Shinobi would be able to engage them with chance of victory, or myself as well.

The Captain gave a salute as Ray walked to the interior of the ship. He then looked onward at the ocean, a black fog was forming from the burning Khai ships though the fleet was not ruthless, they were taking the survivors as prisoners of war and treated them fairly despite a few of them trying to fight only to succumb to a rifle shot.

Ray as he passed by a room, stopped for a moment, looking at the sign on the store room holding one of the Spears he mentioned in the preparation stages of this invasion. He sighed, hoping he would not have to use these weapons.

The sign was yellow and black with a black circle in the center of the image with triangle shapes also painted black, facing up, diagonally down right and left with yellow triangle shapes filling the rest of the sign.

A Radiation Hazard warning sign.

* * *

To be continued...


End file.
